


Jenga

by CatrinaSL



Series: Things You Said [10]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Communication, Established Relationship, F/M, Lack of Communication, Light Angst, Loki being Loki, Making Up, Misunderstandings, SHIP DARCY LEWIS WITH ALL THE THINGS, things you said
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-17
Updated: 2018-08-17
Packaged: 2019-06-27 20:16:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15692616
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CatrinaSL/pseuds/CatrinaSL
Summary: Darcy doesn't want it to be a metaphor for their relationship.





	Jenga

**Author's Note:**

> 10) things you said that made me feel like shit
> 
> Many thanks to SerialObsessor (ibelieveinturtles) for her beta skills. ♥

After digging around in the closet for half an hour, Darcy finally found the box, tugged it out from underneath Scrabble and a pair of her old winter boots, and carried it into the living room where he was sitting.

He was obviously interested in what she was doing, even though he pretended to be reading. She set everything up, even though a few pieces fell onto the floor and she had to go diving under the coffee table for them.

"Okay," she sighed, setting aside the box and glancing over the instructions to refresh herself on the rules. "We're ready."

" _ What _ are you  _ doing _ ?" he asked, disdain dripping from his every word.

"Jenga!" she explained, gesturing to the mostly stable tower of wooden blocks she'd set up between them.

His eyes flicked from it to her. "What is  _ Jenga _ ?" His tone communicated that it was a question he had never expected nor desired to ask.

She raised an eyebrow. "A game," she informed him. "A _game_ is a thing we mortals do to enjoy passing the time. This particular one involves taking turns removing blocks until the tower falls over."

Loki gave her a particular look which meant that he didn't appreciate her oversimplification of a concept that he already understood.

Darcy sighed. It seemed like she was always either over-explaining things or skipping over basic stuff he had no clue about (in order to avoid telling him something he already knew). She couldn't win.

"Want to try it?" she asked finally, crumbling under his gaze. "You can go first, if you want."

Loki flicked his eyes at the game, up at her, then back to his book. "No."

Darcy took a deep but silent breath, turned her back on both Loki and Jenga, and left the room.

Two hours of tossing and turning later, Darcy felt Loki sit down on the bed next to her. She rolled over and closed her eyes, hoping for sleep.

"I have offended you again," he observed aloud about ten minutes later. "Or I have grossly misunderstood the purpose for 'Date Night.' I was given to understand that it was an evening of spending time with one's significant other. Is that not so?"

Darcy rolled over and stared at the darkened ceiling. "It is," she acknowledged.

"You are not very good at it," he told her.

" _ I'm _ —?" she screeched, bolting upright.

Loki turned on the light on the bedside table, revealing his utterly baffled expression. "I _have_ offended you," he surmised. "Would you mind explaining how?"

Darcy rubbed her brow. "For all that you go on about how superior Asgardians are, you really can be just as dense and stupid as a regular human."

Loki's eyes narrowed. "I am not yet accustomed to all of the ways of this realm," he said for the eighty millionth time. "You cannot fault me for failing to grasp—"

"But apparently _you_ can fault _me_ for not knowing what it is that you grasp and what it is that you don't," Darcy interrupted. "I get the death glare when you don't understand something I thought you did, and I get the death glare when I explain something you already do. Do you have a list or something I could reference so maybe we could cut back on the loathing?"

"I do not loathe you, Darcy," Loki said softly, reaching out to brush her hair away from her face.

"You could maybe try not to act like it, then," she told him, leaning away.

She didn't particularly enjoy the look on his face, but maybe the hurt and confusion he was feeling would lead to a realization that sometimes his words and actions  _ hurt  _ her.

"How have I...?" he began to ask.

" _ You _ were the one who wanted to stay in tonight," she reminded him. 

"Yes," he recalled. "Do you dislike companionable silence?"

"No, but you said you were bored. _I_ went to the effort of finding something for us to do, and instead of coming up with something else, or I dunno, telling me you'd rather just cuddle on the couch with me and my copy of Norton's Shakespeare, you dismissed me."

" _ A Midsummer Night's Dream _ would have been more enjoyable with you at my side," Loki admitted.

An involuntary thrill went through Darcy at the words "with you at my side." Whenever Loki said something like that, she was reminded of the first time he'd tried to ask her out, which had involved him proposing that they conquer and rule a couple of worlds together. She had laughed, then apologized and politely declined when she realized he was serious.

"You know," she said, "the idea of Jenga is to destabilize the tower enough so your opponent knocks it over. It's pretty fun, not knowing when the whole thing is going to topple over. It's not so fun when you treat your relationship like that."

"You think," Loki began, trapping Darcy in a green-eyed gaze. "That our relationship is going to topple over?"

Darcy shrugged, looking back into his eyes. "Sometimes it feels like you're doing your best to destabilize me so I'll give up and end things."

"Is that the objective of a Midgardian relationship? To have a winner and a loser?"

"Some people act that way," she told him, wrapping her arms around her knees and hugging them to her chest.

"But that is... not an outcome you desire," he guessed.

"Well, it's an outcome that means us breaking up," Darcy pointed out. "'Breaking up' is a term we use to mean the end of a relationship. Basically, no more date nights or making out in the supply closet when we're supposed to be working. We wouldn't be together anymore."

Loki was frowning. "How can we avoid this end?" he asked.

"Communication," she suggested. "Maybe a hand gesture when I start to explain something you already know, or you could ask more detailed questions so I know exactly what it is you don't understand? And I guess I could probably start telling you when you say something that makes me feel like shit instead of just storming off to my bedroom."

"That seems like an acceptable compromise," Loki allowed. “I apologize for making you feel as though I do not value every moment we are together.”

Something eased in Darcy’s chest, a tight coil of anger she hadn’t realized she was holding in. “I’m sorry, too,” she whispered, and reached for him, and he brushed her hair off her face before pulling her into his arms.

"What would you like to do now, Darcy?" he asked, and she could almost hear the mischievous smile on his face. "I could start making this evening up to you... or we could go play Jenga."

Darcy rolled her eyes and tilted her chin up to kiss him. "Jenga can wait."

**Author's Note:**

> [Reblog on tumblr](http://catrinasl.tumblr.com/post/177099760603/jenga)
> 
> Tumblr: [catrinasl](http://catrinasl.tumblr.com)
> 
> Twitter: [@Catrina_SL](http://twitter.com/Catrina_SL)


End file.
